Monday, March 18, 2013

Things don't always turn out as one planned

It was bwo and my first official weekend in the UK as a relocated couple. I was getting a little tired of the hot, little flat in Egham and so decided that we should visit Briton on Saturday morning. I read somewhere (in the numerous travel books we seemed to have collected) that Briton is a place to visit (in summer probably). Anyway, Saturday turned out to be cold and rainy, not really summer, or even spring weather. But, undeterred we set out (let's just say bwo took some considerable amount of convincing). I chose to drive only back roads as I am tired of looking at the UK from the highway. We had not been on the road all that long, only about three arguments worth, when bwo spotted a tea room just outside Cranleigh. So I dutifully turned around, and we stopped for tea and scones. They were excellent, although the scones were a little heavy and the strawberry jam a spot to smooth, the clotted cream was genuine and the tea room dry and warm. Needless to say, that was enough for the day and once were were done we headed home where I spent the afternoon watching five six nations rugby (thanks Yuval) - could have been a whole lot worse.Yesterday was Sunday. We decided we would head into London to the Nation Portrait Gallery. Bwo promised that we would not have to go shopping. We drove into Richmond and parked at the station. We bought our Oyster cards (sort of debit cards for use on the London underground and buses) and undergrounded into the Embankment station and walked to the Gallery. We were enjoying looking at the paintings of the royals, when bwo informed me that her heel on her (thrift shop acquired) boot had broken. She hobbled around for a while before it was decided she would need a new pair of shoes (Oh joy). So we headed out of the gallery across Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus - not a shoe shop in sight (only entertainment and food), so we hopped onto the underground and ended up on Oxford Street - shopping!!! Well bwo could not find any suitable shoes, so we broke off the other heel. This was way easier than I would have expected which all goes to show you get what you pay for. So she just gave up and hobbled home changing trains in good humor and with a smile.So nothing turned out as we expected, but still a good time was had by all (except for the shopping).